Audubon To State: Buy Ranch Water Board To Study Polk-osceola Site

December 15, 1989|By Mary Beth Regan Of The Sentinel Staff

WEST PALM BEACH — The South Florida Water Management District asked its staff Thursday to re-evaluate the environmentally sensitive Walker Ranch to determine whether it qualifies for public acquisition.

The 8,500-acre ranch, which straddles the border of Osceola and Polk counties, was nominated for inclusion in the water district's Save Our Rivers list last spring.

But because of priorities in other areas such as the Kissimmee River flood plain, the ranch was not included in the final list approved by the nine-member board Thursday.

Charles Lee, senior vice president of the Florida Audubon Society, had asked the water district Wednesday to consider adding Walker Ranch to the Lake Marion and Reedy Creek projects to preserve a giant tract north of Lake Hatchineha.

''It would be a huge project,'' said Fred Davis, director of the water district's Save Our Rivers division, ''and very hard to pull off.''

Last week, Louis Fischer of Fischer Associates Inc. in South Miami and Kissimmee announced plans to build a big resort complex on the land, located in a sparsely populated area.

Two projects on both sides of the Walker Ranch, the Lake Marion and Reedy Creek watersheds, have been targeted as acquisition areas if funds become available.

The Reedy Creek project includes an estimated 30,000 acres of hardwood and cypress swamps along 25 miles of the waterway in western Osceola County.

In Polk County, nearly 13,500 acres of wetlands adjacent to Lake Marion have been added as a priority for 1990.

''I told them there's no sense spending millions to protect these areas on the sides if you're going to have a city spring up in the middle,'' Lee said.

The list sets the agenda for the district's $13 million land acquisition program for 1990. It must be submitted to Gov. Bob Martinez and the state Department of Environmental Regulation by Jan. 15.

The staff must determine that protecting the property would contribute to or improve water quality.

Bill Malone, the water district's director of land management, said his staff would evaluate the Walker property. But, he said, it could not be added to the Save Our Rivers list until next May, when the board is scheduled to re-evaluate the list it voted on Thursday.

Even then, he said, there is no assurance the property can be bought. The owners must be willing to sell, he said.

Fischer, who owns Walker Ranch with two other private investors, said last week he would be willing to sell at least a portion of the land.

The land has been the subject of intense interest among environmentalists because it is home to at least two endangered species, including the Southern bald eagles. At least six bald eagles nest along the southern side of the property, making it one of the highest concentrations of nests nationwide.

Fischer and three partners bought part of the property in 1981 for about $2.8 million, then purchased the remaining 3,300 acres for $2.4 million in 1987, county records show.